Technologies

Perseid meteor shower 2021 peaks this week: How to watch the sparkling show

The Perseids will peak on Aug. 11 in the US, but you can catch them blazing across the sky right now. Here’s how.

The Perseid meteor shower, a stunning celestial display, delivers eye-opening shooting stars that can be seen blazing over Earth. We can thank debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle for the spectacle. You don’t want to miss the shower, and here’s how you can see it as it ramps up.

According to NASA, the annual Perseids are active from now through Aug. 24. The space agency says it’s «considered the best meteor shower of the year.» Meteor activity will peak on the night of Aug. 11 and morning of Aug. 12, though NASA also calls out the night of Aug. 12 and morning of Aug. 13 as another great skywatching opportunity.

«The meteors are best viewed from the northern hemisphere, and in ideal conditions with no clouds observers could see up to 50 an hour,» the Royal Astronomical Society said in a statement about the peak, which will be on the night of Aug. 12 for the UK and Europe. The moon will be staying low-key, giving watchers a nice dark sky to work with.

The Perseids are popular for their reliability and the potential for spectacular fireballs. «The Perseids are one of the most plentiful showers (50 to 100 meteors seen per hour) and occur with warm summer nighttime weather, allowing sky watchers to easily view them,» said NASA in a Perseids explainer geared for the Northern Hemisphere.

On July 26, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center shared an image of a streaking Perseid meteor spotted by a camera at the Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona.

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Fireballs can happen when larger pieces of comet debris strike the atmosphere, creating long, bright streaks, the kind that make you say «Whoa!» Ready to get excited? Check out these photos from last year’s shower:

Catch a shooting star

At its simplest, viewing the meteor shower is just about heading out at night and looking up, but there are some steps you can take to improve your chances at catching a good show. You’re in luck if you’re a super-early riser. The pre-dawn hours are a prime viewing time, but NASA also says you can see the meteors as early as 10 p.m. local time.

Some of the biggest obstacles to good meteor viewing are cloudy weather and light pollution. Aim for a clear night and try to get away from city lights. A hammock, blanket or a chair that leans back will save you from craning your neck. Give your eyes plenty of time to adjust to the darkness.

You can spot the meteors anywhere in the sky, though they get their name because they appear to be radiating from the constellation Perseus. To find Perseus, check out a stargazing app that will help you locate the constellation. Perseus isn’t the actual source of the shower, but it can be helpful in tracking down the sometimes elusive streaks of light.

Watch a livestream

The Virtual Telescope Project will host a livestreamed Perseids viewing session on Aug. 10 at 5 p.m. PT. «This year, the sky conditions will be perfect, with no moon interference,» said VTP founder Gianluca Masi in an announcement.

NASA will offer a livestream hosted by the Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The streams kicks off at 8 p.m. PT on Aug. 11 on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

You don’t have to wait for the mid-August peak to enjoy the action. A dark spot on a clear night can deliver a worthwhile viewing experience throughout the Perseids’ visit. Catch those shooting stars while you can.

Follow CNET’s 2021 Space Calendar to stay up to date with all the latest space news this year. You can even add it to your own Google Calendar.

Technologies

Google’s Canvas AI Project-Planning Tool Is Now Available to Everyone in the US

The AI workspace offers a dedicated space to organize plans and projects.

Canvas, the AI planning tool from Google Search, has rolled out across the US, the company said Wednesday. Canvas is essentially a project planning tool with a range of uses, including trip planning. You can select the tool directly from the AI Mode screen at the top of the Google Search results page.

The tool is integrated into AI Mode and can be used on both desktop and mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. However, because Canvas opens a second screen beside the main chat window, it’s a little trickier to see on a smartphone. You’ll have to toggle between the screens.

Going anywhere? Maybe college?

Planning trips is one of Canvas’s main functions, with the ability to view and account for flights, hotels and other relevant information in real time.

«Canvas makes it easy to build travel plans customized for your specific needs — bringing together real-time Search data for flights and hotels, details from Google Maps like photos and reviews, and relevant information from sites across the web,» a Google spokesperson told CNET.

Google also notes you can use Canvas as an academic scholarship tracker, which includes dollar amounts and deadlines.

Project planning with AI

Once you’re in the AI Mode screen on Google, you can select the Canvas option from the plus sign that appears on the left side of the box where you type.

Clicking the Canvas button opens the project in a side panel. From there, you can refine the project with the standard chat prompts. You can even look at the underlying code and adjust the Canvas window’s user interface, such as switching to dark mode.

Rose Yao, vice president of product for Google Search, posted a thread on X on Wednesday, sharing a video of a summer camp project for her kids. Canvas created an interactive dashboard that sorts camp options by cost, distance and focus.

«We’re adding support for coding & creative writing tasks, so you can bring even more ideas to life with custom dashboards or interactive tools,» Yao wrote in the post.

Google first announced Canvas for AI Mode in July 2025, and later that year, expanded Canvas’s travel features.

There’s no word yet from Google on when Canvas will expand into other languages and other countries.

Technologies

McDonald’s CEO Burger Video: Ketchup With This Bizarre New Meme

The executive tentatively took a bite of his company’s new «product,» and now even McDonald’s own social media is relishing the mockery.

Corporate executives: They’re absolutely nothing like us. You might be seeing memes and jokes on social media mocking what appears to be some random man’s wimpy bite into a burger. Here’s the big-mouthed backstory.

On Tuesday, McDonald’s launched its Big Arch burger, and a month before that, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski posted an Instagram video tasting it. But instead of digging into the double-patty, sauced-up and sloppy, 1,020-calorie burger, he … well, delicately nibbles at it? Like the late Queen Elizabeth II might have genteely sampled a cucumber sandwich at afternoon tea?

Kempczinski sings the praises of the Big Arch and then takes the world’s tiniest chomp at it, insisting he took «a big bite, for a Big Arch.»

Does he know what «big» means?

Not only that, but the CEO also says, patting the burger container awkwardly, «I love this product.» As if it’s an IKEA desk. This is America, Chris, we say «burger» here.

Kempczinski’s video came out a month before the burger’s release, and some commenters started grilling the big burger boss right away. But with this week’s release of Big Arch, the internet rediscovered the video.

Comedian Cat Sullivan re-creates the CEO’s video with an even stronger reluctance to taste the food, using the word «product» constantly.

Other restaurant chains especially sank their teeth into the joke. Burger King’s official account cracked, «We couldn’t finish it either» and slammed up an Instagram of its president, Tom Curtis, eating a BK Whopper with a lot more, uh, relish.

Wendy’s created a LinkedIn video showing its president, Pete Suerken, making and enjoying a Wendy’s burger, and he even got in a dig at McDonald’s famously often-broken ice cream machines. Suerken helps himself to a Frosty dessert and announces, «Oh, wait! Our machines are always working.»

Other brands piled on the original post.

«Gonna start test driving our cars 1 metre at a time,» posted car company Mini.

«Is the big bite in the room with us?» cracked the Instagram account for WingStop Canada.

«We do love a square,» wrote Wendy’s UK.

But at least the McDonald’s social media account tried to make fun of its own big boss. The company posted a photo of the Big Arch, using the same awkward term for it that the CEO did, with the caption, «Take a bite of our new product.»

The caption from the McDonald’s Instagram account is at least gamely self-aware, reading «can’t believe this got approved.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 6, #529

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 6, No. 529.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features another tricky purple category, so be ready for some word-twisting. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Whack!

Green group hint: Surprise!

Blue group hint: Gooooooal!

Purple group hint: Sounds like…